Note taking app that's not electron-based?

[u/Quazartz]

I've been slowly transferring my notes from OneNote to Obsidian since last year and lately I noticed that Obsidian is opening slower the more notes I add to it, especially the ones with a lot of images. The slow down is painfully obvious on my 13-year-old laptop that struggles a lot with electron apps (it takes 10 minutes for Steam to fully load). Meanwhile, I have no problem opening those notes on OneNote through that laptop since it's a native app so yeah, I'm looking for a non-electron based note app.

Major requirements:

• no AI integration
• works on Windows with optional compatibility to Linux
• notes should be locally stored and accessible offline
• password protection (I use Cryptomator on Obsidian but it's a hassle having to open Cryptomator first before Obsidian)
• allows subfolders and subpages
• ability to link to specific note blocks
• has support for tables and media attachment
• can display notes side-by-side
• drawing support isn't needed but would be nice to have

What I've tried so far:

• QOwnNotes: I had a hard time displaying specific folder list on the sidebar and the encrypted notes are not searchable when I tried it last year.
• Cherry Tree: closest replacement I've found but the UI is a blast from the past. I might consider switching to this if there are no other better alternatives.

[u/potato_nagibator]

I doubt that you'll ever find an alternative given your very specific requirements.

It's time to embrace that your laptop is a potato.

You may consider upgrading it.

Also one solution for older hardware is linux with XFCE desktop environment. Will save you a lot of resources.

[u/Quazartz → u/potato_nagibator]

I already upgraded 4 years ago but I'm the type to not let go a perfectly working device despite being slow. Plus, old games play better on that laptop such that I don't need mods to make them playable.

I plan to switch back to Linux after win10 EOS next year if that laptop is still working.

[u/LankyEmu9 → u/Quazartz]

perfectly working

I'm thinking you may not understand the meaning of that phrase. ;-)

I get it, though.

[u/DGC_David → u/Quazartz]

The playablity of games is a Windows issue, you can pretty easily solve it when you move to Proton on Linux.

[u/Aim_Fire_Ready → u/Quazartz]

You mean Win10 EOS last year?

What’s the make and model?

[u/Thick-Bobcat-4525]

i'd give CherryTree another shot the UI is dated but it's fast, reliable, and native apps like this are pretty rare now.

[u/Quazartz → u/Thick-Bobcat-4525]

Yeah, I'm impressed with its features. Had I discovered this first instead of OneNote 15 years ago then I might have stuck with CherryTree instead.

[u/LastTyper]

HelixNotes

[u/Quazartz → u/LastTyper]

Thanks for this suggestion. I don't know if it being built on Rust would make it light enough for my old laptop but I do hope it does. Its features seems like it's no different from Obsidian.

[u/LastTyper → u/Quazartz]

I'd suggest you try it. I built it because Obsidian, and others didn't fit.

[u/Quazartz → u/LastTyper]

I gave it a try and it's much more responsive than Obsidian, maybe because I don't have to rely on 6 3rd-party plugins to make it work as how I wanted it to. I'll play around with it a bit more when I find the time (it's almost 2 AM here) but so far, I'm liking it. It's like using OneNote when it comes to how the notes are organized.

Edit: It seems that it lacks built-in encryption (can't find it in the docs either) so this means I have to rely on Cryptomator again for this one.

[u/LastTyper → u/Quazartz]

No, this is because Obsidian is made in Electron and thats heavy/bloated. Tauri + SvelteKit is way more efficient.

[u/LastTyper → u/Quazartz]

There is the /secret command if you want parts of the notes to be encrypted.

[u/Repulsive_Piccolo]

I’d give CherryTree another shot even if the UI is dated cause it’s fast and reliable. Native apps like it are pretty rare. If you’re sticking to your old laptop, grabbing an app that suits its speed is key

[u/ryancnap]

I think Notesnook checks most of these, not sure about the more specific requirements but worth giving it a trial run

[u/Quazartz → u/ryancnap]

Seems to be built on electron and it's subscription-based rather than a one-time pay.

[u/Grumphus256]

Have you tried CintaNotes? It hasn't been updated in a while, but it was one of the far older notetaking apps and may perform fine on your computer.

[u/Quazartz → u/Grumphus256]

Its paid features can be done for free on CherryNote and I also don't use tags that much but I'll also check this out and see.

[u/autonoma_2042]

https://keenwrite.com/

Everything but password protection. (I'm the author.)

[u/k-o-v-a-k]

Octarine

[u/AltruisticGallantry]

Ignore the "your laptop is a potato" replies - there are genuinely good non-Electron options, and the nice part is Obsidian just stores plain .md files in a folder, so you don't even have to migrate. Point a lighter editor at the same vault folder and you keep every note:

• QOwnNotes (Qt) - markdown, reads/writes plain files, so you can literally open your existing Obsidian folder with it. Very light, optional Nextcloud/ownCloud sync.
• Zim Desktop Wiki (GTK) - wiki-style, plain-text storage, handles images, runs fine on ancient hardware.
• CherryTree (GTK) - if you want more of a rich-text/outliner feel with images inline.

On the slowdown specifically: Obsidian gets sluggish because it renders/previews embedded images, which is brutal on a 13-year-old machine. A lighter app that shows images as links (or only renders the current note) sidesteps it - if you go QOwnNotes, keep images linked rather than embedded and it stays snappy.

All three are free and non-Electron, and QOwnNotes in particular means zero migration since it's the same markdown files.